The world has more confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin than in his US counterpart Donald Trump, says a poll carried out by the US-based Pew Research Center among 40,000 respondents in 37 countries on all five continents.
The results show that 27% of respondents voice confidence in Putin as he does “the right thing regarding world affairs.” Some 28% trust Chinese President Xi Jinping, and only 22% feel this way about Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel enjoys the highest rating of 42%.
Most respondents (75%) call Trump arrogant, intolerant (65%) and even dangerous (62%). Meanwhile, more than half of respondents (55%) call Trump a strong leader and another 39% say he is charismatic.
“The share of the global public that voices a favorable view of America is on the decline,” the survey says. Only 30% of Mexicans express a positive attitude toward the US, compared with 66% in the end of Barack Obama’s presidential term.
In Canada and Germany, the figure dropped by 22 points to 43% and 35%, respectively. In many European countries, confidence in the US is comparable with the figure in 2003, when George Bush announced plans to invade Iraq.
At the same time, most respondents have a favorable impression of Americans. “Many people overseas still believe Washington respects the personal freedoms of its people,” the survey showed. Most respondents believe that relations of their countries with the US will stay about the same in the next few years.